By
Euronews

Authorities in Belgium have said that the shutdown of a nuclear reactor due to a water leak does not mean it is dangerous. The Doel 3 reactor near Antwerp had only been brought back online this week after an 18-month safety check.

Only last Saturday, there were protests about Belgium’s seven ageing reactors just over its border with Germany.

Spokesperson for the Belgian energy company Electrabel Anne-Sophie Hugé said: “At around one in the morning, we detected a light leak in a water pipe in the non-nuclear part of the complex, so our teams stopped the facility to do a more detailed analysis and organize the necessary repairs. It should be a matter of days, and then our teams will be able to restart the plant, but all this is still being studied.”

The wisdom of restarting and continuing to run old reactors has also been questioned by Germany’s environment minister, parliamentarians and officials in its most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, neighbouring Belgium.